George King Mrs. Eddy Writing Grammar F 9 March 2016 Aaron Burr Aaron Burr once said, “Never do today what you can do tomorrow. Something may occur to make you regret your premature action.” Many people do not know Aaron Burr, but he was Thomas Jefferson’s Vice-President. He is also known as the man who shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel. His fascinating life influenced many people in America during his lifetime. His difficult childhood and his adult life left a legacy that is rich with scandal, success, and intrigue. Aaron Burr had a sad and challenging childhood, but that did not stop him from becoming very successful in the eighteenth century. Burr was born in New Jersey in 1756. His family …show more content…
He was not perfect, but there are many good things about him that are overshadowed by his scandalous duel with Hamilton and subsequent endeavors that almost had him put in prison for treason. Founders like Hamilton, Jefferson, Washington, Hancock, all had relatives and admirers who made sure that their legacies would be remembered in an honoring light. Burr only had one daughter, who died before him, and his wife died before him. (Isenberg p405). He was a man of progressive ideas. He loved his daughter and his wife very much. He told his daughter that she could be as smart as any man. The Burrs introduced their daughter to a rigorous curriculum early in life. She could read and write by the age of three. She studied mathematics, geography, Latin, Greek, and French. She excelled at a pace that was well beyond her years.(Isenberg 80). However, Burr is nationally known for the scandal of shooting Alexander Hamilton in a duel. The stories are varied about how this happened. Some say that Hamilton shot into the air while Burr shot to kill. Other reports say that Hamilton taunted Burr and said that he would not waste his shot. At the dueling ground itself, Hamilton gave Burr every indication that he intended to fire in earnest; not to waste his shot, as Hamilton apologists continue to insist to this day. (Isenberg, location 99) Therefore, Aaron …show more content…
Not only was he Vice President of the United States, but also he ran for governor of New York. George Clinton named him Attorney General in 1789. He was elected a senator in 1791. He served six years and later won a seat in the state legislature when he was not re-elected to the Senate. After the loss of his seat in the legislature in 1799, he began to organize the Democratic Party in New York City. In 1807, he was charged with organizing a militia operation against the Spanish Territory. “Clearly, Burr invoked among his friends what the philosopher Immanuel Kant had called ‘a special reverence for the soldier’.”(Isenberg 29). President Jefferson pressed charges against him, but the charges did not stick. Burr spent Christmas of 1809 in Göttingen, where he learned of a development: the emperor Napoleon had thrown his support over to the independence movement in Mexico and other Spanish colonies (Isenberg 382). After all his escapades throughout the world, and even trying but failing to take over Mexico and get Napoleon to help him, he came back to America and started a very successful law firm. Burr was known to be a very good lawyer even though there were once charges pressed against him. Therefore, he was famous and